“All things must change”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1878, Kéramos
This may be a short one, as there has been a change of plan.
Life changes, develops and moves on, slotting different things into our focus. When that happens, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue giving our attention to what we did before. Very much like that stereotypical image always presented to us, we come to a fork in the road and our path changes.
The challenge presented to us time and time again is to maintain a balance.
As new roles and responsibilities come into being, we must try to integrate them into our lives while maintaining everything else. We know that when we drop one spinning plate, we go off keel and don’t function as fully as we would like. For example, when we are called to pursue our creativity, we can’t abandon our family in its name. Likewise, when family life beckons us, we can’t completely abandon all creative pursuits. We decide what is important to us, how important they are by comparison, and divide our time, attention and efforts accordingly.
“…All visible objects change in a moment, and will be no more…The whole universe is change, and life is but what you deem it.”
Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 AD, Meditations
Like that pie chart we were shown in Math class, every segment of our life contributes to our whole being.
The proportions each segment take up however will change many times over the different stages of life. We need to be conscious of keeping all aspects alive, but also to be flexible. Don’t fret if life requires you to alter your route or directs the majority of your attention elsewhere. Foster that self-awareness and continuously check in to make sure nothing is being neglected. There will always be a change of plan, that is the nature of life. The success of this new plan depends on our ability to be flexible and remain balanced the best way we can.
“I am not what I once was.”
Horace (65 BC-8 BC), Carmina, IV. 1. 3. in Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)
